St. Francis of Assisi Pastor’s Column — September 17, 2017

Last weekend in the stewardship center we had information on how we as Catholics might advocate on behalf of the hundreds of thousands of young immigrants who are affected by the recent DACA decision. Cardinal Joseph Tobin, Archbishop of Newark, NJ, released a strongly worded statement on the rescission of the DACA executive order. He states that “The decision to phase out the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals executive order is malicious… one can’t hide behind the term ‘legality’ in rescinding DACA. That is an abandonment of humanity, and abandonment of talented and hopeful young people who are as American as you and I….Catholic teaching calls all people to make a commitment to uphold the dignity of every person and to work for the common good of our nation.” These are strong words from a prominent Catholic bishop, and the complete statement can be found at www.rcan.org.

Many thanks to all who signed petitions last weekend. Contact Trevor Thompson, St. Francis’ Director of Justice and Peace, trevor.thompson@stfrancisraleigh.org for more information about advocacy around this important issue.

Amid everything going on in the world, last week in the newspaper I saw these words about Pope Francis’s recent visit to Bogota, Colombia: “Leading prayers before a huge crowd, Pope Francis urged Colombians to avoid ‘the thirst for revenge’ and finally accept peace…” Such a gift our pope has been for our world, such a voice for the power of the gospel. This weekend I am with a group of pilgrims from our parish in Assisi, home of our beloved St. Francis, who in his own time was a voice for peace. May we all continue to pray for and be witnesses to the peace of God “which surpasses all understanding..” (Philippians 4:7).